Fruitless Calls for a Cease Fire
by Cannanan
Summary: Camp was supposed to be exciting for kids their age, but "terrifying" or "life-threatening" seemed to describe it better.


- I've gone ahead and republished this story, since clearly I'm never going to get around to editing it.

* * *

"Good morning, Gasai-san."

"Morning, Aru."

"Did you sleep well?"

"Mhm. I had lots of nice dreams about Yukki!"

"As did I. What a coincidence."

Akise Aru, junior detective extraordinare, and Yuno Gasai, infamously dangerous beauty, exchange pleasantries at breakfast that morning, and it would seem the war is finally over. The birds sing, the sun shines bright, the oatmeal tastes near tolerable— except to Yukiteru, because Yukiteru knows full well that the battle is still waging, and he's caught in the crossfire every time.

Yuno is clinging to one of his arms with an iron grip, and Akise leans so close to him on his other side that he can't even pick up his spoon, let alone eat. They're both smiling through ground teeth, acting like they can stand each other. They're both awful actors; Yukiteru _knows _that they can't.

He keeps quiet, though. He'd love it if they could actually get along, and maybe this is a start. Maybe—

"Yukiteru-kun, did I tell you the story about how Gasai-san snuck into our tent with a knife last night?"

Maybe not.

"Hey, Yukki, what if they don't let Aru become a detective because of his crazy delusions? That'd be so sad!"

Yukiteru squirms in his seat a bit, struggling to find the space or the appetite for eating breakfast with his friends accusing each other of attempted murder and insanity to either side of him.

"Uh, no, you didn't Akise. D-Did that actually happen?" He glances from the cherry-topped girl to the snowy-haired boy in anticipation. Akise is first to crack a genuine smile.

"Of course. I would never lie to someone as dear to me as you, Yukiteru. In fact, I—"

"I wouldn't lie to _my _Yukki either! Come on, this guy's so corny, he—"

"I think you and I both know that Gasai-san is capable of a lot more than…"

"Yukki!"

"Y-Yuno?"

"Gasai! Aru, Amano, you too. Pipe down right now."

Yukiteru lets out a breath that he believes he's been holding for several centuries. He's never been so relieved to hear the booming voice of their camp counsellor. Actually, it's the first time it's instilled anything but fear in him.

"Today we'll be holding a scavenger hunt in groups of two."

Yuno's hand shoots up.

"I'll be with Yukki!"

"No you won't." The woman replies immediately. "Last time I left you and 'Yukki' alone I almost had to put out a forest fire."

"But—"

"It'll be boys against girls this time. I don't want to hear anything else from you, Gasai."

She explains the rules of the game, gives them a time to meet by the edge of the woods, and leaves them to pick their partners. Akise asks Yukiteru a second later, and he accepts, because at least this way he can keep him and Yuno from fighting it out— or, at least, he'll be able to later.

"Why don't you partner with Mao or Hinata, Gasai-san?" The fair-haired boy asks, smug smile plastered on his face. Yukiteru's never seen a glare as stabbing as the one Yuno shoots him in response. She turns to walk away, muttering something about how she doesn't need some dumb detective's advice; she can pick a partner on her own.

—

They're given numerous tools for the game. A flashlight, as it's getting dark by the time they begin, a compass, for obvious reasons, a few feet of rope, and a walkie talkie for emergencies. One thing they're not given, however, is their cell phone; they're forced to hand them over to the counsellor before they can participate. At first this concerns Yukiteru an awful lot, but Akise assures him that the device will be in safe hands, and that he'll protect the boy himself with his life, which is really all he can ask for, so in the end it's more a minor inconvenience. He figures using his diary probably would have been cheating, anyway; he reluctantly let's it go.

Yuno isn't so yielding. After a good ten minutes of arguing, she declares that she "just won't participate, then", and when the counsellor leaves them to their scavenging, she follows, cellphone still in her pocket.

"Let's get going, then, hot stuff." Akise grabs Yukiteru's hand abruptly, and the brunet blinks.

"Y… You don't think Yuno will get into trouble, do you?" He asks hesitantly as they begin their walk into the shroud of greenery.

"Well, I think she'll cause a lot less trouble at camp than she will out here." Which isn't exactly what the other boy was getting at, but it's the only answer he offers before changing the subject. "What's first on the list?"

"The list? Oh, right." Yukiteru rummages through his pocket and retrieves the paper. "It says it's in a nest… um, what kind of birds do they have around here?"

"I'm not an ornithologist, I'm afraid."

"A what?"

"I don't know what kind of birds they have here." He explains. "Does it matter?"

"P-Probably not. The clue's not very descriptive. It just says bird's nest."

"So we'll search _every _bird's nest."

"Akise! That'd take all night—"

"It would be worth it, for you."

"U-Umm, that's nice of you Akise, b-but I don't really care _that _much about winning this. In fact I don't really care at all! So you don't have to search all of the bird's nests or, um, caress my face?"

Akise moves his hand to rub the back of his own neck instead.

"You have a point, Yukiteru-kun." He admits, grinning sheepishly. "Scavenging during a scavenger hunt is completely uncalled for. We should cherish our time together instead."

Yuktieru feels his cheeks burn red.

"Th-That's not exactly what I meant either, but, uh, okay."

They find a tree to slump under for a bit, which isn't very hard since there are enough trees to, well, to call the area a forest. Akise tosses the flashlight from one hand to the other in a tireless, unending sort of way, and eventually Yukiteru decides to distract him from it.

"What do you like so much about me, Akise?" He asks, absent-mindedly knotting the rope that they're supposed to be saving, presumably for some kind of daring rock-climbing sub-adventure.

"I like most things about you, Yukiteru-kun." He smiles serenely. "I can't see any reason I shouldn't."

"Don't you get tired of always fighting with Yuno because of me?" Yukiteru frowns. He can't imagine being worth so much strife.

"Yuno isn't exactly the sort of person that I, being a detective, would get along with anyway. It's a fact of nature, like cats and mice." He shrugs, musing, "Perhaps more vicious than that— cats and dogs, maybe."

Yukiteru's not sure what he means by this, or what significance his being a detective has to do with his disliking Yuno, but he's glad to hear it's not his fault.

"S-Still… It'd be nice if you two didn't fight all the time." He murmurs, glancing down at his hands. Pretty soon, he's looking at Akise's hands, too, because they've intertwined with his.

"I only fight for your sake. If it's upsetting you, I'll avoid it when I can."

Yukiteru smiles, and Akise smiles back, then he pulls him to his feet.

"Now let's get going properly this time. We have a lot of nests to search."

—

Yukiteru's finally back in his tent. He's huddled in several blankets, sifting through the items they found; they'd only managed to successfully collect a worn out ring, a faded photograph of the camp, and a ballpoint pen that may or may not have actually been part of the game. For all it's worth, though, he still feels a lot more content than he had that morning.

"I'm asking _why the hell _it says you two were cuddling underneath the stars, Aru!"

Yuno's voice can be heard very clearly through the thin fabric of the tent, but he appreciates the sentiment in taking their argument outside.

"As if I should be so lucky. I assure you, Gasai-san, it wasn't half as incredible as that sounds."

"I don't care if it was thirty percent as incredible! There shouldn't be any percent of anything between you and Yukki!"

Yukiteru sighs lightly, stuffing the contents of his bag back where they belong. It looks like he'll just have to wait it out.


End file.
